Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions of people attain financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper column, radio show, and premium investing services.

Your Credit Stinks

11 common credit conundrums that make lenders say "No thank you."

No matter what words are used or how they are delivered, rejection always stings. Here are the top reasons, according to myfico.com, lenders turn down your loan request (if you can bear reading further):

Serious delinquency

Serious delinquency, and public record or collection filed

Derogatory public record or collection filed

Time since delinquency is too recent or unknown

Level of delinquency on accounts

Number of accounts with delinquency

Amount owed on accounts

Proportion of balances to credit limits on revolving accounts is too high

Length of time accounts have been established

Too many accounts with balances

I think of you as a brother

OK, we made up that last one. Still, getting turned down for credit is one of the financial world's cruelest slaps in the face. So, before you court credit, see what's in your file. (TrueCredit has a special for Fool readers on a 3-in-1 credit report, which includes your overall credit score, for $29.)

If you find that your credit score is not up to snuff, there's a lot you can do to scrub it clean. And despite the misleading spam clogging your email inbox offering to fix your credit, you don't need an outsider's help to set the record straight.